Celebrities Living With Eczema

If you live with eczema, you already know the exhaustion of living in a body that feels like it’s at war with itself.

It’s waking up in the middle of the night to an unwavering itch. It’s going through your closet for the softest, loosest cotton because the thought of fabric scraping against your inflamed limbs is too much to bear. It’s the mental weight of carrying a chronic condition that people often dismiss as “just dry skin,” while you’re quietly dealing with raw, burning skin from head to toe.

When you're in the middle of a brutal flare-up, the world can feel isolating, right!? We look at magazine covers, red carpets, and perfectly curated Instagram feeds, and it’s easy to internalize the lie that everyone else is walking around in smooth, effortless skin.

But chronic inflammation doesn't doesn't care who you are. Even famous actors, musicians, and public figures are quietly struggling through the exact same physical and emotional toll as you are going through. Seeing their stories isn't about celebrity worship, but more of a powerful reminder that no amount of success shields you from being human.

What is Eczema

Eczema, or most commonly known as atopic dermatitis, is a chronic non-contagious inflammatory skin condition that causes dry, itchy, red, and irritated skin.

How Do People Get Eczema?

Atopic dermatitis develops from a complex interplay of genetic predisposition, structural skin defects, and immune system dysregulation:

• Genetic Factors & Skin Barrier Dysfunction: A primary driver is a compromised outer skin layer, often linked to mutations in the FLG (filaggrin) gene. Filaggrin is a vital protein responsible for maintaining natural moisturizing factors and structural integrity in the stratum corneum. When filaggrin is deficient or absent, the skin barrier becomes "leaky," accelerating water loss and allowing environmental irritants, allergens, and microbes to penetrate easily.
• Immune Dysregulation: The immune system in individuals with eczema frequently overreacts to everyday triggers, maintaining a state of chronic systemic inflammation.
• Environmental Triggers: Once a person is predisposed, flare-ups can be activated or worsened by external factors such as extreme weather, harsh soaps, allergens (like dust mites or pollen), and psychological stress.

How Many People Have Eczema

Atopic dermatitis, or Eczema, is widespread on a global scale. Data indicates that it affects approximately 10% to 20% of children and up to 10% of adults, translating to roughly between 200 million and 230 million people worldwide.

Celebrities, They're Just Like Us: Celebrities With Eczema

Kerry Washington

Kerry Washington has been outspoken about living with severe eczema since childhood and seeing dermatologists from a young age. It’s a part of the Scandal star’s life that viewers don’t see on screen: managing a skin condition that’s been with her for years.

To help manage it, she focuses on keeping her skin moisturized, describing hydration as a “game changer” in her 2023 interview with Who What Wear, she called hydration a “game changer” and said Neutrogena’s Hydro Boost line has changed how she takes care of her skin. She also drinks a lot of water and takes in electrolytes.

Her routine starts with the Hydro Boost gel cleanser, which she likes because it’s fragrance-free and soap-free but still feels like it’s clearing off the day. She follows it with the Hydro Boost hyaluronic moisturizer with SPF 50. “I love a product that multitasks,” she said.

The one thing she won’t skip is washing her face before bed. She admits that sometimes means a makeup wipe, maybe once or twice a month, but she’s usually a double-cleanser. Since she finished having babies, she’s also gotten into retinal, using Neutrogena’s Rapid Wrinkle Repair serum and eye cream, then

Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson spent years pulling on her varsity jacket the second a cheer game ended. She had a lot of bumps on the backs of her arms, and the jacket covered them. Eczema had been part of her life since she was a kid, but she didn’t say anything publicly until August 2020.

It got worse after her daughter Birdie was born. Holding or nursing the baby, she’d look at the photos her husband took and see every bump in the light, so she kept those pictures to herself. A recent flare-up finally sent her to her doctor, who prescribed Eucrisa, a non-steroidal cream. “If I see a flare-up, I use it, and it’s gone,” she told Refinery29.

Worth knowing: she shared all this as part of a partnership with Pfizer, Eucrisa’s maker, and her Instagram post was tagged as an ad. She told followers it “really works for me” and asked people with eczema to share their own stories under #EczemaConversation.

Nara Smith

Nara Smith grew up with eczema, and for a while it seemed to go away. “I grew up with eczema, but then it kind of just went away,” she told Essence. Then she gave birth, and a tiny flare-up showed up on her hand. She figured it would fade again. It didn’t. It got worse after the birth of her son, and she started paying close attention to what went into her food and onto her skin.

In 2025 she posted a video of herself getting curly extensions put in, and explained over the footage what had happened. Her hair had been falling out, her scalp was flaky and bleeding, and she’d decided to cut it all off and start over, hoping her natural curls would come back. She was also diagnosed with lupus in 2023, which changed how she thought about managing her skin.

Worth knowing: in April 2025 she became the face of Cetaphil’s Restoraderm eczema line, in a campaign with dermatologist Dr. Camille Howard. She said she wants to connect with the eczema community, and that “the heart of this campaign is connection.”

Katie Couric

Katie Couric has had eczema since she was a little girl. In December 2023, it flared up around her right eye, and she posted a no-makeup photo of it on Instagram with the caption “Good Lord”. She added that she couldn’t believe she’d let her team post it.

It’s not only eczema. She also has allergic contact dermatitis, so she has to be careful about what goes on her face. The flare-ups have moved around as she’s gotten older. Now they tend to show up on her eyelids and the creases beside her nose, and her dermatologist, Dr. Cheryl Lee Eberting, told her those are allergic reactions that get worse in skin folds, where pH runs higher. For eyelids in particular, Eberting says fragrance, including essential oils, is a common trigger.

What helped was Eberting’s own sensitive-skin line. Couric said the creamy cleanser helps rebalance her skin’s pH so it can heal and head off flare-ups, and that moisturizers are a “lifesaver” in colder months. She posted a link to the products in her bio.

In the comments, she joked that the flare-up had cleared up by the time of her date with George Clooney.

Trevor Jackson

Trevor Jackson’s connection to eczema starts at home. His dad has had it since high school, mostly on his forehead, cheeks, nose, scalp, and elbows. A cousin deals with it too.

That’s why the Grey’s Anatomy actor joined a campaign with Eli Lilly, which is based in his hometown of Indianapolis. The campaign is for Ebglyss, an injectable drug for some people with moderate to severe eczema. He likes that Lilly is running a trial across different skin tones, since eczema can look different on darker skin, and he thinks that will make people more comfortable talking about theirs. His own message is that they’re “not alone.”

Ebglyss is approved for adults and kids 12 and up who weigh at least 88 pounds, and whose eczema isn’t controlled by prescription creams or who can’t use them.

What Works Best for Treating Eczema

• Moisturizer, and plenty of it: A thick, fragrance-free cream or ointment serves as the foundation of most eczema care. Look for ingredients like ceramides, petrolatum, or colloidal oatmeal, and apply it right after a lukewarm shower while your skin is still damp using the "soak and seal" method.
• Something for flare-ups: For red and inflamed patches, doctors often prescribe a short course of a steroid cream, or non-steroid alternatives such as calcineurin inhibitors and PDE4 inhibitors.
• Knowing your triggers: Common catalysts like harsh soaps, scented laundry detergents, extreme weather shifts, and allergens can spark flare-ups, and jotting down events beforehand can help identify patterns.
• Stronger options when creams aren’t enough: For moderate-to-severe eczema that resists topicals or ruins sleep, doctors may discuss injectable biologics—like dupilumab—or oral JAK inhibitors, which require medical oversight to block specific inflammation signals.